[GortWillSaveUs]

Since my A6 build has been, and still is HUGE success,..and having some extra money in Amazon credits,..I've decided to build a multi-purpose A10 HTPC.

Why A10?
- Because I want to, and because I can. Actually,...the fact that I can skip a graphic card is still awesome, and saves me money for other things. Plus I get one powerful processor!
What will you use this one for?
- XBMC, as a gaming computer, internet browsing, budget, taxes, spreadsheets, work, ripping DVDs and BDROMs,....and more.
Why not an A6 or even the 65W version of the A10?
- I wanted something much more powerful (see above for usage),..and I didn't care about power or heat,..since I'll be putting this in a mid-tower sized case and locating in a closet.

So here are the parts (and I'll update with pictures when I build this monster).

[CASE] I am using a mid-tower Rosewill case I had on hand,..however,..I would have brought this one, since it comes with a 500W PSU.
Rosewill Black ATX Computer Case with 500-Watt Power Supply R519-BK $69.95
[Power Supply]
Corsair Builder Series CX 500 Watt ATX/EPS 80 PLUS (CX500) $75.36
[CPU]
AMD A10-5800K APU 3.8Ghz Processor $119.99
[CPU Cooler] Although I could have just used the stock cooler,...I like "pimping" my HTPC with a nice CPU cooler. Although I'm partial to the Scythe BIG SHURIKEN 2 Rev B. 5-Heatpipe Universal Low Profile CPU Cooler,...I decided to try the Cooler Master this time.
Cooler Master GeminII M4 - CPU Cooler with 4 Direct Contact Heat Pipes $34.99
[MOBO]
MSI Socket FM2/AMD A85/DDR3/SATA3&USB3.0/A&GbE/ATX Motherboard FM2-A85XA-G65 $99.98
[RAM]
Corsair Vengeance Red 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1866 MHz (PC3 15000) Desktop Memory $54.99
[SSD] While I didn't buy an SSD (at least not yet),...I would buy this one,...and I just may order this one before I build.
Crucial m4 64GB 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive SATA 6Gb/s $72.99
[BD-ROM] Didn't go with a BD-ROM drive at this time,...but would recommend this one (and just may upgrade to this in the future,..especially when I want to rip blu-rays)
LG UH12LS28K LightScribe 12x SATA Blu-Ray Combo Internal Drive, Bulk (Black) $81.99
[OS] Still have to buy this,..and I refuse to use Windows 8!!!!
Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64bit (Full) System Builder DVD 1 Pack $99.99
[Keyboard] I'll haven't figured out what RF keyboard to buy just yet,..but this one is really awesome with LOS.
IOGEAR Multimedia Keyboard with Laser Trackball and Scroll Wheel, 2.4GHz Wireless GKM561R (Black) $39.08
[HDD] I already have a few HDDs,...but this one is cool.
Western Digital Caviar Green 2 TB Desktop Hard Drive WD20EARX

Of course I've probably forgotten something,..but, it'll come to me.

oh,..and in case you're not familiar with an A10 Warthog:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-10_Thunderbolt_II

[newoski]

Looks quite nice!

How will you be using it if it lives in a closet?

I'm hearing more and more stories like this, but don't understand the logistics...

How does it connect to the TV?

[GortWillSaveUs]

The TV I'll be connecting to this to,..will be on the other side of a wall and that closet I mentioned.
So the HDMI cable will be less than 6 foot long.

With HDMI, you'll be fine with a 25' Cable. It's over 25' that you are recommended to switch from HDMI to Fiber Optics.
I'd always recommend a High Quality HDMI cable.

[Beer40oz]

Good stuff Gort... so basically it will be your desktop pc. If you have the room for this cpu cooler COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO .... it's a good buy... Happy new year my friend...

[GortWillSaveUs]

Thanks Beer! Yeah,..it will be a little bit of everything!
My current desktop is over 12 years old. It's had a good life.

That Hyper 212 looks really cool. At first I couldn't understand why you said, "if I have the room".
But then I saw that it stand on its end. Pretty cool stuff.
Yes,..Happy New Year to you too!

[Dougie Fresh]

This looks like a nice system but I have to ask, and not to be a PITA but because I am wondering. If you have a 500W PSU and you don't care about noise and heat then why would you be happy not to have to use a dedicated GPU? Is it more of a budget issue then?

If my HTPC were in a tower in a closet and I was going to do all the stuff you listed I would be look at an Ivy Bridge i5 with a HD7750 or 7850 GPU. It would be a lot more expensive than a A10-5800K w/o a dGPU of course. So, that's why I am asking if it were a budget decision when you say you're happy not to have a dGPU when you've got everything else you'd need -- space, cooling, PSU to happily support one.

P.S. I remember watching Air Force Now films in ROTC on the A-10. I love that gun in front . It made me feel safe against the Ruskies legions of tanks

[GortWillSaveUs]

Hey Dougie: Happy New Year and no PITA taken.

Yes budget was the biggest concern. I was looking earnestly at the i3 and i5,....but as I said,...I had "some" money in credit at Amazon.
I didn't even have enough to cover the Windows OS,..so I need to wait a week or two to pick that up.
Temporarily, I'll run Windows 7 Ultimate in preview mode,..so at least I can take it through it's paces and make sure everything was assembled properly.

I almost didn't buy the CPU cooler and the DVD drive,..but just had enough. Yeah,...I ddin't really need the CPU cooler,...but as I said,..it's my little way of adding bling.

Most of the games I play are not all that graphics intensive,...heck my A6 plays them perfectly.
And to be honest,...I haven't ripped a DVD or BD-ROM in a lonnnnnnng time. So I'm not worried.

If I went with the i3 and especially the i5,..I'd have had to either wait another 6 months to a year,..or spend money I didn't have,..which might not have gone over well with my better half.

Thanks though for keeping me on my toes. You've helped so many people (including myself) and it's always appreciated.

---

P.S. I remember watching Air Force Now films in ROTC on the A-10. I love that gun in front . It made me feel safe against the Ruskies legions of tanks

I always imagined this scenario if I joined the armed forces:
Army: Me in an Abrams tank
Navy: Me in a submarine,...preferably a fast-attack sub
Air Force: Me in a A-10 !!!!!
I know I left off the Marines, and the Coast Guard,...sorry to any out there. You ALL have my deepest respect!

[Dougie Fresh]

Yeah, budget is king for sure. I wanted to upgrade my livingroom HTPC so I made my goal that all the parts had to be used off eBay, open box or crazy black Friday specials. I ended up with a barely-used A8-3820 CPU, open box FM1 A55 micro-atx motherboard, PC Power & Cooling MKIII 400W modular PSU (crazy special), reused my nMedia 1000B case and rev. 1 Big Shuriken, and got 4GB of RAM and an Intel 180GB SSD for crazy black Friday too. Windows 7 came from a Family Pack. To offset this, I am refurbing the old parts into a tower PC for a friend who needs a cheap office PC to replace his one that got friend by lightning.

[GortWillSaveUs]

Yup,..my next PC (for HTPC use or not) will be exactly the same thing. As you say,.."used off eBay, open box or crazy black Friday specials".
Getting harder to justify another PC to my wife. Hahaha

[Beer40oz]

PITA is this some type of organization? Joking...

[jackh]

[HDD] I already have a few HDDs,...but this one is cool.
Western Digital Caviar Green 2 TB Desktop Hard Drive WD20EARX

Hey Gort,
If I were you, I'd go with a faster HDD. I'm a big fan of the WD Green too (I have it on my NAS) but for a beast (ahem -powerful) PC like this you might want to ensure you pick at least a 7200RPM HDD such as a WD Blue. Last time I checked the WD Green is variable speed, and up to 5400 only, which makes it "green" but might hurt your overall performance in this case.

[GortWillSaveUs]

PITA is this some type of organization? Joking...

At some point in time,...I think we've all been members of this organization.

[Dougie Fresh]

PITA is this some type of organization? Joking...

It's the one I've been told I belong to when I ask too many questions like "how'd you decide on that?", "did you consider this?", "do you have a link to an article/review that backs that assertion?", "have you tried that thing you're recommending?" or say things like "in my own testing it didn't work that way", "I haven't had a chance to try it with that particular configuration of XBMC yet", etc.

Not you guys, of course. I appreciate your efforts too. I always figure I don't know everything so I like to ask lots of questions. PITA

[GortWillSaveUs]

[HDD] I already have a few HDDs,...but this one is cool.
Western Digital Caviar Green 2 TB Desktop Hard Drive WD20EARX

Hey Gort,
If I were you, I'd go with a faster HDD. I'm a big fan of the WD Green too (I have it on my NAS) but for a beast (ahem -powerful) PC like this you might want to ensure you pick at least a 7200RPM HDD such as a WD Blue. Last time I checked the WD Green is variable speed, and up to 5400 only, which makes it "green" but might hurt your overall performance in this case.

Great point,..and I must of used a bad link. I actually make sure I use 7200 RPM drives.
I haven't purchased a SSD drive just yet,....but I do have a lot of 7200 drives (I think 10) from other computers.
I know I have at least one 1TB and a few 500GB drives.

I'm unsure whether I'll mirror 2 drives? I really don't need redundancy since I have an unRaid server and store anything critical there.
I may just install one of the 500GB drives.

[Beer40oz]

PITA is this some type of organization? Joking...

It's the one I've been told I belong to when I ask too many questions like "how'd you decide on that?", "did you consider this?", "do you have a link to an article/review that backs that assertion?", "have you tried that thing you're recommending?" or say things like "in my own testing it didn't work that way", "I haven't had a chance to try it with that particular configuration of XBMC yet", etc.

Not you guys, of course. I appreciate your efforts too. I always figure I don't know everything so I like to ask lots of questions. PITA

You just say it how it is!!!!